Chronic Hives 8 years.

I've had this soul destroying condition for 8 years now, head to toe, and more.

I used to take antihistamine everyday for 5 years as living without them at the time was impossible. Untill one day, when i decided i will not take anymore, mainly to see how my body would react after days of being attacked by itself with no medication.

Ironically, after a solid week of torture and no sleep, the itching started to slowly subside. It has since reduced to about 50% of what it was but it is still here and still making life very uncomfortable.

I've had food allergy, HIV, and thyroid tests and haven't seen a dermatologist for years. They only thing i was ever offered was some 'soothing' aqueous cream which of course does nothing to get to the root of the problem, as well as countless batches of antihistamine which i will never touch again.

So my question is this..Does anybody have any ideas as to how i can go about investigating this futher?

I should note that i also seem to have some "contact hives". With my arms sometimes getting red and itchy when i touch steel, rubber, and even human skin. Is it even possible to have both chronic idiopathic hives AND contact hives, or could they be related?

Any feedback appreciated.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
I see that you are having the problem of chronic urticaria. It is defined as urticaria that persists for longer than 6 weeks. In most of the cases of chronic urticaria, the underlying pathology is idiopathic i.e. it is not linked to any cause. It is essential to rule out the presence of serious illnesses of which recurring hives can be a symptom. Examples are hepatitis, hyperthyroidism, lymphomas, collagen vascular diseases, and cancers of the rectum, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract.

I feel that you should find out the cause of your chronic urticaria by ruling out the various conditions causing it. Please consult an allergic for this.
I hope it helps. Take care and please do keep me posted in case you have any additional doubts. Kind regards.